


Take Me to Church

by LuckyLucy92



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:06:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29853681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyLucy92/pseuds/LuckyLucy92
Summary: Phil Mitchell has been having one night stands for as long as Ben Mitchell can remember, so his son finally convinces him to look past bars and clubs for true love, but unfortunately that leads him perfectly to a single young man... Callum Highway.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty please drop a comment or leave kudos if you guys want me to continue! 😊 Feedback is always appreciated. 🔥

Throughout Ben's life, Phil was constantly hooking up with block after block after block, it was actually very rare for him to even ask for a name, but after his last boy toy that he met while doing some shady business threatened to kill his family in their sleep, Ben finally had enough of the bullshit, he just had to put an end to Phil's dangerous search for "the one" at night clubs and gay bars.

"What's your opinion on dating websites like Tinder?" Phil casually said, as he showed the homepage to Ben.

"Dad!" Ben shouted, before counting to 10 in his head, "I... I think that you could do so much better than that."

"Yeah? Well, what do you reckon?" Phil said, crossing his arms, he almost never took any of his son's advice, but listened to it anyway, just so that he could belittle him about it.

"Um, have you ever tried going to church?" Ben said, he felt like the Holy Spirit was gonna punish him for inviting the devil, but hey, it was a chance that he was willing to take for the sake of his family.

"Church?! Do you really think that goody two shoes guy Jonno would ever welcome me there?!" Phil shouted, thinking this was possibly Ben's worst idea of all time.

"Dad..." Ben said, rubbing between his eyes, "Look, if it doesn't work out then I'll repay you somehow."

Phil shook his head, before taking a deep breath, "Fine! But if I get thrown out of church, that's on you."

...

Ben wanted to join Phil so bad at church to make sure that he didn't do anything that he'd regret later, but his ex-girlfriend, Lola, was already freaking out about how little he spends with their daughter, Lexi, so he promised that he'd spend the day together with his two favorite girls at the movies.

"Daddy, why can't we see that R-rated movie?" Lexi asked, as they waited in line to get tickets.

"Because daddy already sees enough violence as it is." Ben said, as he tightly held her hand.

"Ben!" Lola shouted, she always got pissed off anytime he'd try and talk about his crime life to their little girl.

"My bad!" Ben shouted back, luckily this time she didn't smack him over the shoulder for it.

After getting the tickets and some snacks with sodas, they all happily made their way into the theater, "Let's hope that I don't die from boredom..." Ben joked, as the G-rated animation started.

"Shhh, somebody might hear you." Lola whispered, as she sat down on the left side while Lexi was in the middle leaving Ben on the right.

Once the movie was over, it was actually Lola who was complaining about it, "How the he... heck, was that a kids movie?!"

"See?! We should've seen that R-rated movie instead, it so wouldn't have disappoint." Lexi said, putting her hands on her hips.

"But why spend money on tickets when you could just see gore for free?" Ben said, referring to his crime lifestyle again.

"Ben, if you mention that to her one more time..." Lola said, she already had enough of his shitty jokes for one day.

...

Phil entered the church like he owned the place, that is until Jonno approached him, "Phil? I never knew you were a churchgoer."

"I'm not..." Phil said, not without rolling his eyes first, "I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about, ya know, being closer to God."

"Right..." Jonno said, not believing a word he was saying, but still putting on a pretty good front, though.

"Dad!" Callum shouted, running up to show his father something on a clipboard, which gave Phil a change to give him some dirty looks while they were both distracted.

"Sorry," Jonno said, once he realized that Phil was still there, "Um, this is my wonderful son, Callum."

"And I'm Phil," He said, as he reached out to shake his hand, "Man, this place is like a mansion! Mind showing me around?"

"Dad?" Callum doubtfully asked, his father wasn't exactly big on letting his son show strangers around the church.

"Uh, sure, just be back to help me close this place up, yeah?" Jonno said, before taking the clipboard off of Callum's hands.

"Of course!" Callum shouted, before giving Jonno a big hug, he felt like his father was finally starting to trust him.

...

At first everything was going according to plan, but then Phil accidentally tripped down a flight of stairs, "Ah, are you alright?!" Callum shouted, as he rushed to his aid.

"Yeah," Phil weakly said, as he clutched his right leg, "Probably just need some painkillers at home."

"Seriously? I mean, maybe you should go get yourself checked out at the hospit-" Callum voiced, but was cut off.

"No, no." Phil breathlessly said, "Just help carry me back home, yeah? I'll take it from there."

Callum was extremely bothered that Phil even suggested for him to carry him back home, like the dude weighs how many pounds?! But still, he just couldn't say no to a guy who was in such agonizing pain like that, "Okay."

And so Callum went through the backdoor of the church to avoid Jonno, carrying Phil all the way there while onlookers watched in disbelief at the sight, "Here!" Callum shouted, dumping him on the kitchen floor, now he was in physical pain as well.

"Sorry..." Phil sincerely said, he could clearly see just how much pain he was now in, "I'm such a fuckin' klutz sometimes."

"No! Don't speak that way about yourself." Callum said, getting down on the kitchen floor to comfort him, "I mean, I don't even know you, but I'm already getting good vibes from you."

"You are?" Phil said, getting lost in his eyes, "I mean, you don't have to say that to be nice or anythin-"

"And I don't have to do this to be nice either, but..." Callum said, leaning in to give him a kiss, but coincidentally Ben, Lola and Lexi walked through the front door, stopping them.

"Everything alright?" Lola said, as she eyed the two men who were looking nervous as all hell.

"Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" Phil said, as he slowly got up to sit down on the nearest chair.

"And who are you?" Ben firmly said, he would've instantly have guessed that it was just another fling, but this guy looked young enough to be his son.

"S-sorry, I gotta go, my dad's probably waiting for me now." Callum said, before rushing out the front door.

"Can I go to sleep now? I'm tired." Lexi said, she had enough fun for one day, a kid can only take so much.

"Oh shoot, it's way past your bedtime, yeah, let's go." Lola said, before walking down the hallway with Lexi.

"Okay, child's gone, now who the fuck was that dad?!" Ben shouted, he wasn't going anywhere until he got an answer.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a very awkward moment between father and son, yeah, Ben didn't see Phil almost kiss Callum, but he was on the ground with him for no apparent reason, so Phil just couldn't handle making any eye contact with Ben for a moment, until he took a deep breath, finally getting the nerve to say, "That?! That right there was someone who I met at church."

"What?!" Ben said, shouting so loud that there was even an echo, "Don't you think he's just a bit too young for you?"

Phil rolled his eyes at that, "Listen, I accidentally hurt myself at church, so Callum carried me back, that's it."

"Carried you back?! How?!" Ben shouted, he wasn't really sure whether to laugh or to feel bad for the other guy.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." Phil said, shaking his head, "But I better rest up for tomorrow, so goodnight."

Ben watched his father slowly get up and walk away, before wondering if what he just told him was actually true, did he really meet this boy Callum at church? Were those bruises actually from a one night stand? Did that guy seriously carry him all the way home? So many questions, but Ben knew that the stranger was probably more reliable than his own father, so he decided to try and track him down.

...

Jonno just got done closing up the church when Callum came rushing over to him, "Son, where have you been?! I was worried sick."

"Sorry, dad." Callum said, out of breath, "Phil got hurt, so I helped him make his way back home, that's all."

"Phil?!" Jonno shouted, "Please don't go anywhere near that man's house, he's bad news."

"Aren't you supposed to like love everybody or something? You're a pastor." Callum said, raising an eye brow.

"This ain't about love Callum, it's about safety." Jonno said, stepping closer to him, "And besides, you're my son, you're first before anything else."

Callum just shook his head, but then saw Ben approaching them, "Sorry, can I have a word with him?" Ben said, pushing both hands into his pockets.

"Sure," Jonno said, before turning to face Callum, "Just make sure you're back before midnight, alright?"

"Don't worry, I won't let you done twice in one day." Callum joked, before watching his father walk off.

"Just leave my father Phil alone, okay? Sometimes he doesn't seem to know what's best for him."

"Excuse me, why are you the one in charge of his love life? He looked like he could use some company."

"I'm not! I just simply can't allow him to hook up with a guy who looks like he's under 30 years old."

"Look, it's okay, I'm very mature for my age, so I think I can handle your father, you just handle yourself."

"Nope, sorry, there's just no way in hell that I'm gonna sit back and watch this happen."

"Well, it's already happening... I'll probably ask your dad out tomorrow, I'm really sorry."

Callum then swiftly walked away while Ben watched him in disgust, he just couldn't believe that he'd actually wanna date his father, his 60-year-old father! And he didn't know why he was feeling slightly jealous about this, I mean, he just met the guy, but he was extremely attractive and seemed to be a sweetheart... but he wasn't gay... was he?

...

The following day, Callum sat right next to Phil at church and was just about to quietly ask him on a date when Ben decided to crash the party, "Wanted to bring some beer, but didn't think you guys would allow it, so I just settled for some wine instead."

"Um, we're kinda in the middle of something..." Jonno said, as the church-goers all looked around at each other confused.

"Whoops, my bad!" Ben shouted, before taking a seat next to Phil and Callum, "Hope I can sit here."

"Yeah, of course." Callum politely said, but was deep down disappointed that he didn't get to ask Phil out.

"Ben, there's plenty of other empty seats all around, go take one of those, will ya?" Phil sarcastically said, before pointing at one of them.

"Phil!" Callum shouted, he just couldn't let someone be rude like that, "No, please stay Ben, we want you to."

Ben felt his heart fluttering and he had absolutely no idea why, "Uh, thanks, I really do appreciate it man."

"Don't mention it." Callum said, seriously don't mention it, 'cause seeing this soft side to Ben was making Callum almost blush... what?!

Once the ceremony was over, Callum decided to stop acting all shy and finally ask Phil out on that date he had planned, even with Ben sitting right there, "Will you go out on a date with me?"

Phil looked absolutely shocked, like Callum just popped the question to him or something, "I do! I mean, I will."

"Congrats dad, you finally found a decent guy." Ben said, quickly leaving before tears fell down his face.

Phil didn't catch the tears slightly filling Ben's eyes, but Callum sure did, "Sorry, I gotta go as well, so talk to you later."

Phil just watched as the two of them rushed out the door, not really paying much attention to why that might be, 'cause he basically just got asked out by Prince Charming and that made him feel like the luckily guy on earth.

...

"Ben, wait!" Callum shouted, but when that didn't work he pulled his arm, "What was that all about?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Ben snapped, he's had enough, "Oh, you want me to plan your honeymoon now?"

"Ben!" Callum shouted, before rubbing his forehead, "I... I saw tears in your eyes and I need to know why."

"What for?! Why do you give a damn about how I feel?!" Ben shouted again, before breaking down in tears, "No one ever does... are you really that perfect?"

"Ben, I'm not perfect, not even close, but if I see someone hurting, I wanna help, so tell me, what's really going on here?"

"Honestly, I don't even know... when I saw you ask my dad out like that... I just felt like I was gonna puke."

"Wait, you like guys? You like... me?"

*dramatic music*

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading my newest Ballum fanfic! 😇 This fan base is seriously one of the best ever. 🙏


End file.
